


The Cultivators

by Todd A (HowNovel)



Category: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Starman (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1994-09-15
Updated: 1994-09-15
Packaged: 2017-11-10 01:10:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/460570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HowNovel/pseuds/Todd%20A
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Starman meets the being formerly known as David Bowman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cultivators

The Cultivators  
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

 

by Todd A. 

Copyright © 1994

 

 

_It had been three million years since the Experiment had begun. The galactic microscope, the servant, the tool, had remained dormant, and undetected, at the outer edge of the Solar System, waiting for a moment of destiny that might never come._

_Now the long wait was ending. On yet another world, intelligence had been born and was escaping from its planetary cradle. An ancient experiment was about to reach its climax._

_Those who had begun that experiment, so long ago, had not been even remotely human. But they were flesh and blood, and when they looked out across the depths of space, they had felt awe, and wonder, and loneliness. As soon as they possessed the power, they set forth for the stars._

_In their explorations, they encountered life in many forms, and watched the workings of evolution on a thousand worlds. They saw how often the first faint sparks of intelligence flickered and died in the cosmic night._

_And because, in all the galaxy, they had found nothing more precious than Mind, they encouraged its dawning everywhere. They became farmers in the fields of the stars; they sowed, and sometimes they reaped._

_The great dinosaurs had long since perished when the survey ship entered the Solar System after a voyage that had already lasted a thousand years. It swept past the frozen outer planets, paused briefly above the deserts of dying Mars, and presently looked down on Earth._

_Spread out beneath them, the explorers saw a world swarming with life. For years they studied, collected, catalogued. When they had learned all that they could, they began to modify. They tinkered with the destiny of many species, on land and in the ocean. But which of their experiments would succeed they could not know for at least a million years._

_They were patient, but they were not yet immortal. There was so much to do in this universe of a hundred billion suns, and other worlds were calling. So they set out once more into the abyss, knowing that they would never come this way again._

_Nor was there any need. The servants they had left behind would do the rest._

_And now, out among the stars, evolution was driving toward new goals. The first explorers of Earth had long since come to the limits of flesh and blood; as soon as their machines were better than their bodies, it was time to move. First their brains, and then their thoughts alone, they transferred into shining new homes of metal and of plastic._

_In these, they roamed among the stars. They no longer built spaceships. They_ were _spaceships._

_But the age of the Machine-entities swiftly passed. In their ceaseless experimenting, they had learned to store knowledge in the structure of space itself, and to preserve their thoughts for eternity in frozen lattices of light. They could become creatures of radiation, free at last from the tyranny of matter._

_Into pure energy, therefore, they presently transformed themselves; and on a thousand worlds, the empty shells they had discarded crumbled into rust._

_Now they were lords of the galaxy, and beyond the reach of time. They could rove at will among the stars, and sink like a subtle mist through the very interstices of space. But despite their powers, they had not wholly forgotten their origin, in the warm slime of a vanished sea. And they still watched over the experiments their ancestors had started, so long ago._

_The children were as curious as their parents, and would tend the fields. Today, a baby, a boy-baby, had been born from the womb, in the farmland of interspace, and he was heading Home, to his human birthplace._

_His journey from the middle of the Solar System to Earth took a minuscule amount of time, and the elation he felt on arrival at the familiar blue planet was an emotion he still recognized. Under a watchful Eye, he was allowed to descend through Earth’s atmosphere. In some subtle way, he was being used as a probe, sampling every aspect of human affairs. The control was so tenuous that he was barely conscious of it._

_Whoever or whatever they were, they were interested in Mankind. They had tapped and stored his memories, for their own inscrutable purposes. And now they had done the same with his deepest emotions, sometimes with his cooperation, sometimes without._

_He did not resent that; indeed, the very processing he had experienced made such childish reactions impossible. He was beyond love and hate and desire and fear—but he had not forgotten them, and could still understand how they ruled the world of which he had once been part._

_He was involved in a hierarchy of intelligences, some close enough to his own level to act as interpreters. Or perhaps they were all aspects of a single being._

_Or perhaps the distinction was totally meaningless._

_Of one thing, however, he was now sure. He was being used as a tool, and a good tool had to be sharpened, modified—adapted. And the very best tools were those that understood what they were doing._

_He was learning that now. It was a vast and awesome concept, and he was privileged to be a part of it—even though he was aware of only the merest outlines. He had no choice but to obey, yet that did not mean that he must acquiesce to every detail, at least without a protest._

_He had not yet lost all his human feelings; that would have made him valueless._

_He realized that those who controlled him could not always predict the outcome of their cosmic game._

_They had not yet attained the stupefying boredom of absolute omnipotence; their experiments did not always succeed. Scattered across the universe was the evidence of many failures—some so inconspicuous that they were already lost against the cosmic background, others so spectacular that they awed and baffled the astronomers of a thousand worlds._  
  
---  
  
“Have a good night at work, Scott,” Starman wished to his son.

“You have a good night too, Dad,” Scott replied as he walked out the door. He got into his Infinity VI, and in a moment the vehicle was powered up, the headlights were on, and Scott was speeding away to begin his night shift at a nearby computer firm. Scott preferred a more active lifestyle than just sitting behind a desk, but it helped pay the bills.

It had been fifteen years—fifteen!—since Starman had returned to Earth, to take care of his son, his precious and special son, who had called to him in need of help. In the last year of the twentieth-century, he and Scott had celebrated the fourteenth anniversary of his return. They spent that time reflecting on their travels, their life-growth experiences, and with nostalgia their first meeting. Scott was twenty-eight last year, and could not help but recall and repeat the words he had spoken to Starman shortly after his real father had entered his life. But Starman no longer experienced the twinge of guilt that he had felt when Scott had first told him, “It took you fourteen!”

So much had happened in the past decade and a half. Science and technology had advanced rapidly since Starman’s return, though none of the advances were due to his presence. It was the Age of Instant Information, a giant leap from the so-called Information Superhighway of the early 1990’s. United Press International was now Universal Press International. The Newspad, the electronic replacement of the old-style printed newspaper, provided the latest news, updated to the second.

Humans were now well on their way to exploring the Solar System, having established several space colonies in Earth’s orbit, and one on the moon. The Earth’s overpopulation problem had forced such solutions. Now with room in space, whole neighborhoods could be moved, easing the real estate land problem. Now, in space, were the first generation of the spaceborn.

With the historic abolition of long-distance charges on 31 December 2000, every telephone call became a local one, and the human race greeted the new millennium by transforming itself into one huge, gossiping family.

Paul and Scott’s constant flight from town to town had become a thing of the past. Political commentators still made occasional reference to Foxgate, the scandal that had erupted eight years ago when it had become known that George Fox of the Federal Security Agency was illegally imprisoning two citizens without charging them with any crime, much less convicting them—because, Fox claimed, the two men had actually come from outer space! When Congressional investigators had summoned Fox to appear before them, Fox had fired his staff and destroyed all his files. There were numerous witnesses only too glad to testify to the irregularities and borderline illegalities of Fox’s methods and his seeming irrationality in general. Fox had confirmed their testimony by degenerating into a babbling vegetable when called to the stand to make his own defense. He never regained his faculties, and was now locked away, safe from society, still raving to anyone who would listen about his perceived threat of an alien invasion. But not many did listen anymore.

Fox’s employees—Edna, his long time secretary, and Wylie, his field assistant—had suffered emotional trauma from the public hearings, but had now successfully put it all behind them. Edna now worked as an administrative assistant to Dr. Heywood Floyd, Chairman of the National Council of Astronautics. Wylie had elected to change careers completely, and was now working as the host of a children’s television show.

Even though Paul and Scott had been released by the Congressional investigators, and had seen Fox’s breakdown with their own eyes when they testified at the hearings, they had not relaxed immediately. It took two years of continued running and hiding before the habit of fearfully looking over their shoulders and fleeing when authorities looked their way was broken. Finally, they had settled into a stable life in low-profile Lake of the Woods, Illinois, where he and Scott were renting a house together.

The Newspad had allowed Jenny Hayden to follow Foxgate with great concern, and when it was over, she had sent an untraceable electronic message, passed on to them through their legal counsel: “Dear Paul and Scottie, I love you both so much and I’m glad you have been released, but I do not feel it is safe enough yet for me to join you. You won’t be able to find me—I’m sending this through many UniNet relays—but a friend of mine has the resources to be able to find you in the future. I miss you both terribly, but the pain of our last separation is taking a long time to heal. Don’t be sad; enjoy your life together and I will be with you when I can. My love to you both, Jenny.” Paul and Scott still had a copy of her message with them, a source of hope that they would eventually become a family.

Although Paul Forrester had made his international reputation in a type of photojournalism that was now obsolete, Starman had been able to adapt his Paul Forrester’s Pulitzer Prize-winning talents to the developing field of videography, and had landed a secure job as Chief VidGrapher for the DAILY STAR in nearby Champaign.

Scott had completed a correspondence course (a course for the “gifted” so as not to raise suspicion about his growing intelligence) in computer programming, and was now employed as a junior Software Engineer in nearby Urbana. Scott found his work on artificial intelligence, “teaching” a computer how to learn, to be very challenging. The work at the Plant would result in spaceships that could function almost independently of the ship’s crew members, being able to mimic the human brain. Scott still had an avid interest in track and field, and would often be away on weekends with his running buddies.

It was a cool summer night, and Paul decided to spend a few minutes on his porch. He put on his jacket, and headed out to view the night sky. 

He thought about how contented and relaxed they both were, now that Fox was no longer a threat. Scott was happy to have a normal life, something Paul had wished for his son for a long time. Scott now spent more time with his friends and co-workers, forming new emotional attachments. Paul and Scott were still very close, but now Scott was spending less time with his father. Paul couldn’t blame him. Yet, Paul would think about his own people, his own friends, the beings he could relate to, back on the world he left. Although he knew that someday Scott would want to have a wife and family of his own, Paul nevertheless sometimes struggled with the feelings of being left out of Scott’s life. He had talked to Scott about his future, but Scott seemed to still be working out the feelings of separation from the people he had been close to during their travels. Scott had come a long way towards accepting his alien heritage, and his powers were getting stronger, but he still had a problem with control. No, Paul couldn’t leave his son—there was still too much for them both to learn from each other. He was not ready for that inevitable separation. Not yet.

Paul took out his sphere, activated it, felt it envelope him in its warm, blue glow, and looked at the night sky towards his home, feeling very much alone….  
  
---  
  
The once human, now energy being, continued his scan of the Earth, moving imperceptibly among the inhabitants, visiting places he once knew, and some places which were significant only to the watchful Eye. Midway through a sweep of North America, as that continent faced away from its sun and toward the glittering darkness of the universe beyond Earth’s solar system, he paused suddenly, sensing something that didn’t quite belong to Earth’s stage of evolution, and yet felt somewhat familiar….

Curious, he moved towards the anomaly, noting that it was not at a level that could be considered hostile. It was a strange sensation, one that felt like part of his own being, and yet different.

“Hello.”

Paul was startled by the sudden contact, an unspoken word entering his melancholy thoughts. He withdrew his energy somewhat, trying to localize the source of the contact, to focus upon whoever or whatever had touched his energy. Seconds passed as each being assessed the other, neither one feeling threatened, but each sensing the other’s abundant curiosity.

“Hello,” Paul said telepathically. He could think of no other reply. He, too, could now sense a familiarity to the other being’s energy pattern.

The visitor’s inquisitiveness took the form of a direct inquiry sent into Paul’s mind. “Who are you?”

“I am…a visitor to this world. You are in contact with my true form. Only part of me is human, of this planet,” Paul said with his mind.

“We are both different in many ways, but I detect an energy pattern that is much like my own. How can this be? Where are you from?”

Paul, still thinking of his home planet, projected an image of his world to the other being. He opened himself to the other’s curious mind. And, they exchanged memories. Paul could sense the other’s puzzlement over their similar energy patterns, and from the other’s images, he now knew its source.

“You…are a young being,” Paul began. “But you are linked to a higher intelligence. My own people encountered the same intelligence, when my world was beginning its own space explorations.”

Paul began to project images of the history of his people, and continued.

“At the dawn of my planet’s intelligence, we found evidence of life beyond our own. They were the Ancients, the catalyst for the evolution of my planet. But they were just beginning their exploration of the stars, still learning and revising their methods. My planet evolved to be energy beings of one race, one people. The Ancients had not learned how to drop random ‘seeds,’ to create a variety of life. When we evolved out of our need for physical bodies, we made a choice on our future evolution. You are more advanced in some areas than myself; you do not need matter to surround your energy to travel through space. We have not evolved to that state, though we may someday. My people developed a technique of merging with a physical body, so that we could survive on whatever planet we explored.

“My people followed the path of the Ancients, mapping their journey through the Galaxy. We wanted to know more about them, and to see what other worlds they had created. My people have been to Earth before, ages ago, but before intelligence had taken hold. We saw this planet as one of their successes, and we wanted to learn more about it. The Ancients gave us a curiosity about other species, and a desire to teach them and help them evolve. We hoped that we could enrich our own culture in the process.”

Paul stopped projecting his thoughts momentarily, as a feeling of sadness overcame him. He missed his home world. He continued…

“Humans demonstrated their desire to reach out into space, when we intercepted a probe that they sent. When I came to this part of the Galaxy, my task was to map out the Solar System, and to record for my people the progress of Earth. I had followed the path of the Ancients, discovering their dormant Servant near Jupiter, and on the Moon. I became stranded on this planet, and was in great danger. I fell in love with a human, fathered a son, and now am helping him as he grows up to be a teacher of Earth. Because the people of Earth have such a fear of the unknown, and non-human intelligence in particular, I have yet to tell anyone—even my son, of the existence of the Ancients, since they must never know that they are being influenced. That would ruin the purpose of the experiment. Humans have progressed into space without my help. Other members of my people—the emissaries, cultural technicians—will eventually come again when Earth has learned how to control its energies, so that they no longer take the destructive form of expression they so often have in the past.”

When Paul finished projecting his images, the other being was grateful to be able to relate the experience Paul’s people had had with the higher intelligence, with his own. But he felt an urging to get on with his work, with his exploration of Earth.

“Thank you, and…I have a message for you,” he said, and was suddenly filled with an awareness of the great importance of the message.

“What is the message?” Paul asked, his sense of puzzlement evident to the other being.

“Message as follows: We are the ones you call the Ancients. We are pleased with the evolution of your people, and know that the variety you seek for your culture will come eventually. The ‘sameness’ of your people was our Plan, so that you could better experience and appreciate the variety of other species, being able to teach others without the prejudice of your own culture. Your progress across the galaxy is remarkable; we have sensed your positive effect on other species as our Servants monitor their growth. We had hoped that your people would live among the inhabitants of the worlds you visited, becoming one with them, and are pleased that _you_ have taken this step. _Your son is also an important part of the Plan._ Continue to guide him, so that he can teach others. He will need you, and he will be spending more time with you, to learn to balance his alien heritage.”

Paul was awed at the revelation, knowing now a truth that even his own people had never suspected. Knowing also, more than ever, that he must stay here with his son. “Thank you,” he said. He could sense the other being starting to withdraw.

“The people of Earth are about to undergo a significant change. Something wonderful is going to happen,” the other being said, excitement filling his energy pattern.

“But who are you? I sense that you are part human, because of your emotions.”

“I was David Bowman.” And with that, Bowman withdrew completely, flowing his energy to his next destination on Earth.

Paul slowly deactivated his sphere, returning it to his pocket. He continued to think about his own people, missing them, but now he knew his place was here, with Scott. And someday, with Jenny, they would be a family.

“Something wonderful is going to happen,” Paul repeated the phrase in his thoughts, and turned to leave the porch and go inside. He would have to think about what to tell Scott tomorrow.

And while Starman slept, the Ancients would begin the next phase of the Experiment….

 

Author’s Afterword

 

The majority of the opening section in italics, and a couple other areas in the rest of the story, are closely adapted from the 2001, 2010, and/or 2061 novels; credit goes to Arthur C. Clarke.

 

Many, many thanks go to Deb and Gayle who gave me wonderful ideas over the course of some Friday night brainstorming sessions. All I needed was a can of Diet Pepsi, a snack, and my laptop computer to put me in the right frame of mind for writing. Thanks _bunches_ Deb and Gayle!


End file.
